Lisa Gardner Gone

Gone

Lisa Gardner

Bantam, Feb 2006, $25.00, 368 pp.

ISBN: 0553804316

In the middle of a stormy night in Tillamook County, Oregon, the local police find the abandoned car running with the windshield wipers working. Oregon State Police Sergeant Detective Carlton Kincaid is awakened to take over what is a crime scene as blood is everywhere. The deserted vehicle is registered to Lorraine Connor of nearby Bakersville.

Former FBI profiler turned private sleuth Pierce Quincy, has had much tragedy in his life. His oldest daughter and his first wife were murdered; his other child was saved only by the frantic fighting of fellow agent Lorraine "Rainie" Connor. They retired and eventually married, handling occasional cases. Quincy informs Kincaide what he knows about Rainie to this obvious person of interest. Her husband knows that the cop thinks that he killed his wife, but with a sardonic smile that displays his fear and concern, he informs Kincaide that he does not know Rainie and begins his own investigation in the nearby woods because nothing will stop him to save his beloved, and if too late take out her killer.

GONE starts at a fast pace, but accelerates from the moment Kincaid interrogates Quincy with questions, like why his wife would be on this lonely road in the middle of the night, and what was he doing while she went out on a drive, and never slows down until the final alteration with a killer. Readers will feel Pierce's concern for Rainie because he knows in his heart what can happen to a loved one, but in his head he also realizes how capable she is; as his brain and heart battle with each prevailing at different moments, fans will wonder along side of Kincaid and Quincy what happened to Rainie.